And william



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

J. B. VOGBL. MACHINE FOR SEPABATING FIBERS FROM PLANTS.

No. 324,054. Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

Witnesses:

N. PETERSv Phalo-Lilhognphar. Washington. Dv "Iv (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. B. VOGEL. MACHINE FOR SEPARATING FIBERS PROM P-LANTS. No. 324,054. Patented Aug. 11, 1885.

:s a Z WZtn es-s es N. PETERS. Phokoiithognphur. Washington. D. c.

FNITED STATES JOHN B. VOGEL, OF NEIV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, EMMANUEL DREIFUS, AND CHARLES L. A. DE VAUX, OF SAME PLACE, 'MRS. SAMUEL GOLDSTEIN, OF SALLIS, MISSISSIPPI, AND WILLIAM LLOYD BOWRON, OF NEVVYORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR SEPARATING FIBERS FROM PLANTS. I

SPECIFICATION forming part ofLetters Patent No. 324,054, dated August 11, 1885.

Application filed November 20, 1884. (No model To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, JOHN B. VOGEL, a resident of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented an Improved Machine for Separating Fibers from Plants, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of my new machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a top view of the same. Fig. 4 is a detail section of the carrying-cylinder, showing a modification in its construction; and Fig. 5 is an I 5 end view of said cylinder.

This invention relates to improvements on the machine for separating fibers from plants which is described in Letters Patent N 0. 181,382, of August 22, 1876. 1

The present invention consists in several details of improvement, which are hereinafter more fully specified.

In the drawings, the letter A represents the frame of the machine. B and U are two trans- 2 5 verse shafts, which are hung in that frame, and which carry the rollers D and E, respectively. These rollers are geared together by toothed wheels to and I), (see Fig. 3), if it is intended that they should mesh together, and

0 they can be revolved by a crank-handle, d, or pulley, which is applied to one of the shafts.

In order to insure the proper distance between the rollers I) and E, which may be greater for some fibers than for others, I hang 5 the lower shaft, 0, which carries the smaller roller, E, in separate bearings c, which are connected by screws f with fixed lugs g, that project from the frame of the machinethat is to say, each screw fis swiveled in its lug g and engages a nut, which projects from the bear or scrapers are secured to the roller by being attached, by means of screws or otherwise, to projecting ribs 2', which ribs are held by their dovetail-shanks in dovetail-grooves that are formed in the bodies of the rollers. Hence, by sliding outthe ribs 1', together with the scrapers h, which they carry, the roller is adapted to receive another set of ribs with a different character of scrapers or blades thereon, and thus the machine can be adapted to the manipulation of different kinds of fibers. The larger scraper-roller, D, has similar projecting 6o ribs j, which carry blades 70 and l on the opposite faces, and these blades may either be smooth-edged, or one blade, k, may be smoothedged, and the other, l, or both, provided with a serrated edge, as is shown in Fig. 3. When the rollers D and E are not solid, buthollow, the blades can be inserted in box-like socketpieces m, such as are indicated in Fig. 4. or they may be fastened to opposite sides of such boxlike socketpieces, if desired. The roller D, between the several sets of blades, is provided withcushions F. These cushions by preference are made of rubber tubing, which is placed around rods a in the manner shown in Fig. 2, and the several rods 02 are by springs 7 5 0 on the outer end of the roller drawn apart so as to distend the tubes F. In other words, the rods n,'which pass through slots in the end flanges, p, of the roller D, are arranged in pairs, each pair receiving a tube, F, and on the outside flange of the roller the rod n of one pair is united to the rod n of the next adjoining pair by a spring, 0, so that the two springs 0, acting upon the rods n, which are in the same tube F, will draw these two rods apart, and thereby distend said tubes; or one spring is inserted between the two rods of each pair to press the rods apart and distend the tube.

Instead of making the tubing F of rubber, it may be made of leather or any other elastic o material.

G H are brushes placed, respectively, near the rollers D and E, for the purpose of keeping the same clean. It will be seen that by means of lhe'side screws,f, the pressure which is exerted by the rollers upon the fiber can be regulated. B y making the scrapers or blades 7a l longitudinally removable in the manner stated they can easily be exchanged and the machine altered over into a hacklingmachine, in which case toothed scrapers would be used throughout without the cushions F, or into a beating-machine, in which case both rollers would have plain scrapers, or into a thorough cleaning-machine, in which case one roller would have plain scrapers-that is, the roller Ewhile the other would have alternating plain and serrated scrapers, and cushions between the several scrapers. The serrated scrapers, in fact, are only useful for fibrous plants which have woody coressuch as flax, hemp, j u te,and ramie-while the plain scrapers suffice for Sisal hemp, aloe, agave, ixtel, Mexican pita, yucca, banana, and all fibers having; no woody matter, but only pnlpy or glutinous matter.

Although I have shown the machine with only one pair of rollers, D E, to illustrate the several features of my invention, it is clear that in practice other rollers may be added. Thus, for many plants a set of grooved c \1inders for breaking or crushing the stalks before they enter the scrapin g device may be used.

For others more than one set of rollers D E may be used, all of which will readily occur to any one skilled in the art of removing fibers from plants.

I claim 1. The roller 1), having scraping blades, in combination with intermediate endless cushions, F, that are drawn over pins n a, substantially as described.

2. The roller D, having slot-ted end flanges, p, in combination with the rods 11, springs 0, and elastic endless bands F, each spring connecting with two of the springs, substantially as described.

3. The roller 1), having slotted end flanges, 1), in combination with the rods n, springs 0, elastic endless bands F, and scrapers 7c 1, as specified.

4. The roller E, having dovetail-grooves, combined with the dovetailribs 2' set in said grooves, and with the blades h, which are attached to the faces of said ribs, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the roller E, having blades h and dovetailed ribs i, with the roller 1), having blades k l, intervening endless cush ions F, and with the brushes G H, as specified.

JOHN B. VOGEL.

Witnesses:

Gr ms. DE VAUX, Rom. (3. W001). 

